New Hampshire has repealed its state requirement for an annual emission and safety inspection as of Feb. 13, 2026. A federal judge has blocked the move. Gordon-Darby is an out-of-state contractor responsible for the state inspection emission testing. They have filed a lawsuit to prevent the repeal. Their position is that removing the program violates the Clean Air Act. The state is exploring options to comply with the court’s order.
Will Maine follow suit? Here is why I believe the law should not be repealed in our state. Yes, most vehicles on the road are in decent condition and are safe for the road, and most people are responsible with their vehicles and take care of them. But having a state safety inspection law is no different than having DUI laws or speed limits or any other law that helps keep people safe.
The laws are there for the few people who don’t want to follow them. Most people don’t drive drunk or speed–not just because it’s the law but because they are responsible for their actions. It’s the few that either don’t care or are just too ignorant to know better. For $18.50 in Cumberland County ($12.50 in the rest of the state) you can have your vehicle checked out and get a knowledgeable opinion on its safety. That is a bargain price considering most shops charge from $150 to $200 an hour.
Why the price difference in Cumberland County? That is Maine’s way of complying with the Clean Air Act. Cumberland County has the most registered vehicles so by applying the emission standard to those vehicles it is satisfying the regulation for the whole state. Why doesn’t the whole state have to comply? I have asked this question for 30 years since it was enacted in 1996. The best response I have received from the State Police is that the shops in the other counties can’t afford the equipment needed to properly diagnose and repair emission-related failures, and the people living in the rest of the state cannot afford to repair their vehicles that have emission-related failures. Catalytic converters are one example. This seems unfair to make the people of Cumberland County bear the weight to comply with a federal mandate.
I have had some vehicles in my shop with such worn brakes or broken coil springs that it’s hard to believe the owner wouldn’t have noticed a problem. Is our system perfect? Of course not. The safety inspection is no different than it was when it was implemented in 1930. The sticker station buys stickers from the State Police. This funds the program, testing technicians and enforcement.
I believe it’s time to update the system to the twenty-first century. Charge a more appropriate fee for an inspection: $40 to $60.
A large percentage of that would fund the administration of the program. It’s been $18.50 for the last 30 years. Have a website that the shops would have access to. Enter the vehicle plate number; all the pertinent information would be brought up. Plug a bluetooth dongle into the data link connector that would read the vehicle’s readiness monitors and any fault codes. If it passed then the sticker would be printed. If it failed, that information would be stored and if the customer tried another shop the information would be on record. That’s my opinion. I welcome yours.